engleski

Productive performance and exterior characteristics of lambs in organic production feeding different cereals

Application of cereals in feeding sheep in organic farming is fairly represented. Given the significant variations in market supply and price of corn increasingly is being used in feeding animals barley and oats. The aim of this manuscript was to determine how oats and barley affects on the production properties and exterior characteristic of lambs in organic farming in the fattening stage. In the investigation was included 20 lambs Merinolandschaf breed. The lambs were aged 60 days, evenly divided by sex, healthy and in good condition. Feeding lambs was conducted with a mixture of grains (300g/day/animal) containing 50% corn in both groups and 50% oats or barley depending on the group. Lambs had alfalfa hay ad libitum and mineral supplement. The experiment lasted 30 days. Significantly (P <0.05) higher average daily gain and body condition scores were determined in lambs that were fed a mixture 50% of barley compared to those fed with 50% of oats (162.07: 107.28, or 2.90 and 2.44), while the exterior characteristic and physical development indices showed no significant deviations. This gives a certain advantage barley in lambs feeding compared to oats in combination with corn, which would be confirmed in future studies using several types of cereals in the diet and a larger number of animals.

lambs ; performance ; exterior ; organic production ; oats ; barley

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